If you can get a red bulb at the feed store you are much better off. I have done the regular white lights short term if I had to though.The red bulbs are bigger and give off more of a radiant heat, I would avoid the regular bulbs if you can.

Back when I raised chickens and other farm fowl and parrots and other exotic birds, a heating pad under a towel seemed to work fairly well. the chicks will get over the heat pad when cold and move off it as they get warmed up.

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Sitting in the shade, drinking lemon aid.Enjoying the breeze while counting the bees.

can i use a regular light bulb in a regular table top lamp for heat? i know that white light causes pecking,hurts sleeping cycles,ect. thanks! :yippiechick:

Yes you can. In respect to poultry, I've done it many times with out problems. It's the numbers or over crowding that adds to that pecking order. I've used a cardboard box with a light hanging on one end and some home made brooders similar to these http://www.poultryhelp.com/brooders.html for small amounts.

When it comes to game birds, it's a different story, expect cannibalism, it's going to happen, no if's, ands or but's. Again, do not over crowd.

If you mean the white heat lamp, it can work, but the red will be better. If you mean a regular bulb, it won't radiate enough heat. It will give off heat, but that's not the same as radiant heat that travels through the air between and turns to heat when it hits the chicks...

I got to thinking, comments on questions often get misunderstood in one way or another. I simply meant I have used common house hold bulbs with success time and time again though the advice already given is better for a brooder. Should of never left a comment on this thread because the question was already answered.

i found out that our feed store and our true value both sell red heat bulbs and brooder lamps so i will get them at our feed store. my mom i starting to losten up some to the idea of having chickens!! : )i am going to have a heat lamp, a feeder, a water, and some shredded paper all in a cardbord box. does the chick starter feed have grit mixed in our do i have to buy it separtly? do i need the stuff you mix in their water? i think it's called viamens and electralls or somthing like that. does this sond good? give me all the info you got on chickens! thanks! :catchchick: :yippiechick:

Make sure you have a garbage bag under the box, chicks are messy! One of those large flip top storage boxes works great for a few chicks. AND some wire or towel or something to cover the box, little guys are like popcorn and after a couple of days can fly out! I don't know bout the starter, I always just sprinkle some of the chick grit in the brooder. You may want to use the electrolytes for a few days after bringing home, seems to help with the stress of moving from one place to another just make sure to make fresh every day. Pine shavings will absorb poo better than shredded paper and smell better too! Good luck and post pics when you get em!

i will try to post pics but i don't realy know how.i am going to get three female baby chicks! i can't wait! i think i will get them somtime in feburary. i know where to get all the coop supplies i will need for NO MONEY AT ALL! we have an old farm that is only used from one our family members for farming but they don't live there. there is a bunch of chicken wire, old bords and wood, and tin.

Chick feed, unfortunately, seems to only be available around my place with medication in it (antibiotics). I never buy that. So instead I get the game bird feed without medication. It's already ground up so grit really isn't a problem until they start eating solid food (like scratch or cracked corn etc.). I like to give them grit, but if they can find stones on the ground small enough for them to eat they will do that.

well i do want the medicaded feed but only until they'er 6 weeks old.i'm basicly going to just wing it with the coop.i'll see what supplies i can find at the farm. but i will try to get some insparation from other coops. could some of you post some pics of your coops? thanks!clayton moore

Chick feed, unfortunately, seems to only be available around my place with medication in it (antibiotics). I never buy that. So instead I get the game bird feed without medication. It's already ground up so grit really isn't a problem until they start eating solid food (like scratch or cracked corn etc.). I like to give them grit, but if they can find stones on the ground small enough for them to eat they will do that.

Buy game bird starter, it is for turkeys, pheasants, chukar, quail, and ducks, as it has no medication, it also cost about the same as chick starter. Feeding medicated feed to Turkeys poults can cause serious harm. If you can't find the game bird starter then use a General Purpose feed as it is for sustained feeding without the additives for medication or growth hormones. General Purpose works well for growing Cornish Cross fryers/broilers as it slows the grwoth rate slightly, not having the additives that chick starter or chick grower does.

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Life is a school. What have you learned? :brian: The greatest danger to our society is apathy, vote in every election!

Chick feed, unfortunately, seems to only be available around my place with medication in it (antibiotics). I never buy that. So instead I get the game bird feed without medication. It's already ground up so grit really isn't a problem until they start eating solid food (like scratch or cracked corn etc.). I like to give them grit, but if they can find stones on the ground small enough for them to eat they will do that.

Buy game bird starter, it is for turkeys, pheasants, chukar, quail, and ducks, as it has no medication, it also cost about the same as chick starter. Feeding medicated feed to Turkeys poults can cause serious harm. If you can't find the game bird starter then use a General Purpose feed as it is for sustained feeding without the additives for medication or growth hormones. General Purpose works well for growing Cornish Cross fryers/broilers as it slows the growth rate slightly, not having the additives that chick starter or chick grower does.

Not to argue, I never feed chickens any game bird feed. I have had hens die because they get to fat as a result of the protein levels and can't lay eggs.

I got to thinking, comments on questions often get misunderstood in one way or another. I simply meant I have used common house hold bulbs with success time and time again though the advice already given is better for a brooder. Should of never left a comment on this thread because the question was already answered.

wd, the highlighted bold italic in your quote is not true. All comments, whether they be similar or identical are all important. Never for once think that someone is not listening to something that you say because it may be similarly duplicated. Always speak what is on your mind. Sometimes when we read something similar to another thought, it just causes the information to stick in our minds, because of repetition -- and repetition is a good thing -- it makes us learn, and learn some more. So keep on keepin' on, make your comments, anytime you want to, and never worry that something has already been answered, all is good. Have that most wonderful day, to love and live, with greatest of health. Cindi

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There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold. The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold. The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee. Robert Service

Now this is interesting, Clayton, sounds like you are gonna have a whole lotta fun. You little chickie gals will bring you mountains of fun, you are becoming addicted.....as so many of us are.

I may get slammed for this, but that is OK, it is freedom of speech that is such a wonderful thing. With all my incubated chicks and let me tell ya, there has been many, non are vaccinated. BUT....I do feed a medicated chick starter crumble for the first few weeks of life. Period.

The medicated chick starter has one ingredient in particular that I believe in. This medication goes by many names, but one of the names is amprolium. This medication is used to assist the chicks to build up an immunity to a most dreaded chick disease that goes by the name of

Coccidia is in every chicken yard, it is there, period, something that lives and can for many years. Some chickens naturally get immune to this parasite and do just fine, others may not build up an immunity to cocci, naturally and pass from this world.

Now I am not a professor at this, but I do know that I want to give any chicks that I raise the best chance of not dieing from coccidiosis, it is a clear and present danger and causes thousands upon millions of dollars of losses in the chicken industry in the world. I have tried to study and understand as much as I can about this chicken disease, as said, far from knowing a whole lot, other than my chicks get this medicated food. I have lost a few chicks to this and it is not nice. I am not a believer of using a whole lotta drugs for a whole lotta bugs, but sometimes I find some things just necessary, it works for me. I go on the assumption that when I sell chicks that they will probably contract cocci from their new home, so I just want these little babies to have a great start on building up their immunity to coccidiosis.

I am opinionated, I express how I feel and have no problem to say things, take these things as you will. AND....go and have that most wonderful day, to love and enjoy your life, with love and health. Cindi

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There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold. The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold. The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee. Robert Service